Good morning, Nashville! It’s Friday, September 11th. New in Nashville’s neighborhoods: rare bipartisan pushback against a development, movement on the former Lincoln Tech property, plans for the former Kenny Rogers estate, and a new bathhouse.
⚡ Top stories
Weather: ⛈️ High: 94, Low: 71. Chance of showers and thunderstorms through tomorrow.
Father appeals DCS punishment over CBD gummy: A study released this summer found a 3,307% increase in children under six ingesting recreational drugs from 2000 to 2024 “with a rapid increase beginning in 2013, especially involving edible marijuana and psilocybin products.” This week, a father asked a Nashville judge to intervene after Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services labeled him a “perpetrator of child abuse.” According to the father’s petition, his three-year-old daughter “potentially got into [a] closed toiletry bag under [the] bathroom vanity and ingested some portion of [a] legal CBD gummy” that he occasionally uses to sleep while traveling. The child was “briefly lethargic” and “suffered no lasting harm,” the petition said. If his “perpetrator of child abuse” designation is allowed to stand, he said, it will “trigger mandatory notification to any current or future employer, licensing authority, or volunteer organization.” I reached out to DCS for comment about the petition but did not hear back. The potential danger of hemp-derived products was part of Tennessee Republicans’ justification for tighter rules on the hemp industry, including a requirement for child-resistant packaging. Multiple hemp businesses have said other parts of the new rules will force them to close.
Nashville’s lottery dropoff as sports betting and prediction markets rise: Annual lottery ticket sales in Nashville dropped more than 15% in the past five years to $187 million, according to new data I received from Tennessee’s lottery. That matters because the decline, which is happening statewide, threatens a funding stream for college scholarships. More than 169,000 students receive a scholarship funded by the lottery, according to a study by Think Tennessee. The study said scholarship spending outpaced lottery revenue for scholarships in fiscal year 2025, and that’s expected to continue through 2030. I’ve heard no discussion about cutting scholarships, but the study argued “Tennessee will soon have to address balancing current funding pressures with increasing eligibility and enrollment.” You can read its summary of what other states are doing to address similar challenges on the last two pages of this document.
What I’m following today: Nashville’s airport board is scheduled to vote this morning on starting the process to rename the airport in honor of Dolly Parton. I expect that to pass.
🏠 What’s new in Nashville’s neighborhoods
Downtown (and nearby)
Rare (maybe temporary) bipartisan pushback: Governor Bill Lee’s administration wants permission to find a developer who will turn five state-owned parking lots around the capitol building into a mixed-use development with a hotel, housing, retail, and more. A vote to move forward failed with a tie this week in the state’s building commission. While Nashville state Senator Heidi Campbell said she’s open to the properties being developed, she argued the structure of the proposed search “makes it clear that the state is going to choose one developer without ever asking anyone what they would pay, and then negotiate the price of 10 acres of downtown Nashville with a single party, with no competitor at the table.” Before voting against the proposal, Tennessee Treasurer David Lillard Jr. said he’d like to “get it further defined as to what exactly the state's looking at here.” The commission agreed to meet again about the proposal in two weeks.
Metro Center
69 restaurant score: When a health inspector visited Casa Agave Mexican Restaurant at 261 Venture Circle, they wrote in their report that “employees do not demonstrate basic food handlers concepts such as sanitation of food contact surfaces, hand washing,” among other concerns.
East Nashville
Movement on the former Lincoln Tech property: the developers behind a 19-acre mixed-use project at the corner of Gallatin Avenue and Douglas Avenue just filed an infrastructure plan that appears to move toward construction. A zoning plan filed earlier this year called for buildings up to seven stories tall with 350,000 square feet for restaurants and other businesses, 800 multi-family residential units, 150 homes or townhomes, and green space. The latest filing refers to sections of the property closest to Douglas Avenue as future phases.
Antioch
Moving 911 and emergency management: I reported last week this was in the works, and I just got a copy of the plans. Metro plans to bring Nashville’s 911 center and Office of Emergency Management to the former Kmart property on Murfreesboro Pike. Their new, three-story building would be behind the relatively new Southeast Precinct. You can see a rendering of the project on page 20 of this document. The project also includes a “logistics” building for Nashville Fire and emergency management and a three-story parking garage. Nashville’s former 911 director told Channel 4 last year that the department had outgrown its current space near Belmont University.
Near Wedgewood-Houston
Bathhouse in the works: Plans to bring Bathhouse’s first location outside New York to Wedgewood Village were first announced in 2024, and now there’s movement. A new building permit application describes “a public access bathhouse including therapeutic pools, saunas and steam rooms with associated programming.”
Warehouses to apartments: This is at least the second time in the past month I’ve reported on a warehouse/industrial property being torn down to make way for housing in this neighborhood. The latest is for Modera Chestnut Hill at Andrew T. Whitmore Street and Old Radnor Car Line. Its developers just applied for permits to build nearly 200 apartment units. Its plan submitted last year called for up to 400 units with buildings as tall as five stories.
The Nations
Future of the West Park Community Center: Metro Parks just asked for input on what you’d like to see at the new community center. The old building was demolished last year after the roof collapsed. Here’s a link to the survey. I reported last week that a concept design (at 23:04 into this video) includes a gym, fitness center, game room, and possibly an indoor pool.
Hermitage
Plans for former Kenny Rogers estate: A filing for Copperline Ranch at 1 Copperline Road caught my attention. It asks Metro for a zoning policy to support “various rural/farm/agritourism uses.” Metro Council member Jordan Huffman tells me the ranch already hosts events, but this proposal would allow “a general store, walking trails, and a space for small daytime outdoor concerts.”
Neighborhood expansions: The next phase of the Parkhaven neighborhood at 2040 Hickory Hills Lane is in the works. A planning application seeks approval for 50 more lots. About five miles away, the developer behind Kingsley Park filed for “phase 2” to add 45 lots at 5047 John Hagar Road.
📰 A few final headlines…
Nashville 9/11 ceremony: “In remembrance of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Nashville’s first responders and city officials will lead a procession Friday morning at 8 a.m.,” Metro Police said. This press release gives details on road closures in effect around the procession route in Downtown Nashville from about 7:45 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
The Nashville Fair begins tonight: It has “everything from thrilling midway rides to wrestling, axe throwing, balloon sculpting, nightly live music, and more,” the fair’s website says. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for children. Kids 5 and under get in free.
Poll results: I asked nash.news readers yesterday whether Starbucks should receive $30 million in state incentives in exchange for new jobs. 84% of respondents said no.
🧠 Today’s quiz: Odd One Out
Test your memory of yesterday’s newsletter. Three of the four options below have a common thread in a story. Pick the one that doesn’t.
715 apartments
100+ townhomes
130,000 square feet of commercial space
161 affordable apartments
🍔 MAP: click here for restaurant inspections across Nashville
Correction, feedback, question? Just reply to this email or email me directly at ryan@nash.news. Have a great weekend! I’ll be back in your inbox on Monday. —Ryan